When you want to understand an answer, first you need to understand the question. Otherwise the answer will be without context, and will be greatly misunderstood. Take for example, the video below.
Transcript from the video:-
Reporter: Your Excellency, are you aware of the background and details about the issue on the donation to the Prime Minister of Malaysia?
Foreign Minister: We are aware of the donation and it is a genuine donation with nothing expected in return and we are also fully aware that the Attorney General of Malaysia had thoroughly investigated the matter and found no wrongdoing so as far as we are concerned the matter is closed.
Somehow, the mainstream media quoted the Foreign Minister as if he had admitted that Saudi Arabia government was the donor of all the RM4.2 billion ‘donation’ into the Prime Minister’s private accounts.
A foreign minister telling a reporter he has some awareness of the issue is somehow turned into an admission that the money came from Saudi Arabia?
Obviously the Saudi minister was just regurgitating what our own Attorney General had said back in January in order to clear Najib Razak of any wrong doing. Thank you Anifah Aman for briefing his counterpart expeditiously.
So it is not surprising to see a couple of ministers and even the Prime Minister’s press secretary jumping on the bandwagon without knowing what the full conversation was all about. Well, they can be forgiven because they are not media savvy people. Plus they are just being loyal and stupid. God forbid if some Oxford graduates had also misinterpreted what had been said. Their imbecilic statements may go viral.
Coming back to the issue at hand, when a reporter asked a stupid question (everyone in the world should know by now about the background and details on the donation issue), the stupidity can only be surpassed by the people who had misconstrued the answer.
But maybe we are the ones who had misunderstood the question and misunderstood the answer. Maybe the Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister did admit his country gave Najib those billions. From the video above probably at some point in his short answer he had confirmed and admitted that the government of Saudi Arabia had donated those billions. After all, English is not an easy language.
To remove any doubt next time, we suggest reporters to ask a more specific question to the Arab ministers. For example:
“Your Excellency, does Saudi Arabia government admit in giving more than one billion dollars straight to Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts whereby some of it went through several obscure and dodgy shell companies not owned by your Government? Mind you, these companies had suspiciously been set up to launder their money and liquidated when their task has been completed. Any comment on that?”
The reporters need to ask this because Najib Razak will surely not answer it himself. Reporters might get arrested for trying to know the truth here in Malaysia. It’s not like he does not know how billions of ringgit made its way into his own accounts. Surely this prime minister is not an idiot who cannot answer how billions got in his account and how he had spent it as he pleased.
The mainstream media must take heed of the advice given by the veteran journalist, Datuk Kadir Jasin; that their audience will ultimately shrink if they cannot discern between right and wrong.
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“A world class beggar getting ‘donation’ from all over, which he then spent on jewellery, handbags, travel, etc, all in the name of UMNO or fighting ISIS. No not ISIS, but Muslim Brotherhood. Or maybe the Jews.”
What an ingenuous quote about a disingenuos character!
“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”
– Albert Einstein
As for stupidity we shall see how far more Ah Jib Gor will stretch our imagination.
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He only answered the ‘aware’ part which refers to news, as in current affairs.
What he failed to provide are the details –
1 Who is the donor?
2 Has this donor received the returned portion?
3 Was the returned money absorbed into government funds?
4 Was the initial sum overly generous?
5 What was the stated objective for that donation?
6 Why return at all if “no favour is expected”?
7 Did Najib brief him prior to this statement?
8 Why the need to mention Apandi?
This appears to be carefully SCRIPTED for domestic consumption.
As if right on cue, KJ wants this precious videotaped statement to go viral.
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Well done, Jebat!
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Let’s assume that Adel Al-Jubeir was only referring to the 24-hour replacement’s attempted closing of the MACC’s files on the most famous of these money transfers – the US$681 million from 2013. This is what the WSJ first reported in July 2015 and which people now call the “2.6 billion” “donation”.
Adel Al-Jubeir was vague, so we do not know. Was he talking about “2.6 billion” “donation”? Or was he claiming that Saudi was the origin of all of Najib’s US$ 1 billion in wealth? Nobody knows. And the video was kept deliberately short.
Let’s also note, in passing, 2 crucial points:
a) The 24-hour replacement denied MACC’s request to get overseas documents under mutual legal assistance (MLA). Hence, the MACC has NEVER seen the documented money trail from source. They were just given 4 letters and some documents, introduced to someone dressed as a sheikh, and told to swallow their contents. None of it was verified at source, as they were denied MLA.
b) The 24-hour replacement has no legal right to direct MACC to “close their files”. That is beyond his powers in the Federal Constitution. Hence the MACC files are NOT closed and they can recommence their investigation at any time based on new information. The AGC does not run the MACC.
Now, this notorious “2.6 billion” “donation” has a well-documented financial route that even Najib, after his initial lies, cannot now contradict:
Tanore Finance – Wells Fargo NY – Falcon Bank Singapore – AmBank Malaysia.
This all happened electronically on 21st March 2013. It is fully documented, and the records are held in the respective countries.
It is hence pointless for some fake sheikh to come forward and say “no, I transferred it”, because where are YOUR documented records? You are not claiming that Najib received two separate batches of US$681 million on the same day, 21st March 2013, are you? Hence this verbal evasion will not work.
Even if Najib is charged in court, will the fake sheikh come to court and produce verified electronic transactions that show he controlled all those movements of US$681 million on 21st March 2013?
No, that will not happen.
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the reporter was probably given the question to ask so that the correct answer can be provided. so on and so forth.
the question is why do the majority of Melayus allow this to happen?
I said majority because that’s them that put UMNO in power.
the next question is why are the Melayus so stupid?
the next question is Ketuanan Melayu worth destroying this nation?
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Mimi, next time please be more precise and write Melayu UMNO and not Melayus.
I resent the accusation you put forth that the Malays are stupid.
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What is thisw brouhaha about the Saudi Minister’s statement????
In legal term, what he says amounted to nothing more but hearsay statement; the lowest of the low quality hearsay statement that you can get.. He merely said he was ‘aware’ of the donation and that Apandy dhoby had cleared Najib.
The allegation that it came from 1MDB has never been in dount. That is why Najib couldn’t provide a categorical statement.
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“Framing theory” in action.
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Najib’s lawyers are hiding behind the US “Speech Act”.
They sent one very timid letter in very bad English to the WSJ (peguam2 WSJ semua gelak pecah perut), and then, complete silence from Najib’s lawyers. Takut kot.
The Speech Act is very much misunderstood:
http://apps.americanbar.org/litigation/litigationnews//mobile/firstamendment-SPEECH.html
Note that the Speech Act will NOT apply if Najib’s lawyers simply file the suit in the USA. Kick the WSJ and NYT right where it hurts. Of course, in the USA there is no 24-hour replacement and the judges neither know or care that you are Parti Najib’s lawyer, but so what? All the facts are on your side. Berani kerana benar.
If Najib’s lawyers are takut kerana salah, or they fear the US “Speech Act”, then there are plenty of others to choose from who have carried these stories. EJ Insight (Hong Kong)? Anadolu (Turkey)? Bangkok Post? Takut apa pulak?
1. South China Morning Post
2. The Australian
3. Australia Broadcasting Corporation
4. Sydney Morning Herald
5. Herald Tribune
6. Herald Tribune Latin America
7. International Business Times
8. International Business Times Singapore Edition
9. Wall Street Journal
10. International New York Times
11. TIME Magazine
12. The Guardian
13. The Daily Mail
14. Sun Daily (UK)
15. Euronews
16. Deutsche Welle
17. Singapore Straits Times
18. TODAY
19. Today Online
20. India Today
21. Business Standard (India)
22. India Times
23. Fortune
24. EJ Insight (Hong Kong)
25. Anadolu (Turkey)
26. Bangkok Post
27. Chiang Rai Times
28. BBC
29. New Zealand Herald
30. Reuters
31. Bloomberg
32. Channel News Asia
33. Al-Jazeera
34. PAKISTAN FIRST
35. Swissinfo.ch
36. MWC News
37. East Asia Forum
38. Radio New Zealand
39. CNBC
40. The Independent
41. NewsX (Pakistan)
42. StateoftheStateKS (USA)
43. Asian Correspondent
44. Times of London
45. Financial Times
46. Asia Sentinel
47. Courier Mail
48. Jawa Post
49. Tempo
50. Waspada
51. The Telegraph
52. The Diplomat
53. Myanmar Times
Najib has Adel Al-Jubeir, who will produce a verified forensic trail that proves that the RM2.6 billion came from Saudi Arabia.
Takde hal.
Tunggu apa lagi?
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Actually, what was left out in what the Saudi Minister said is the most important thing. The guy is smarter than you think.
If he really wanted to say the funds were from the Saudi Government, he would have said “We are aware of the donation and it is a genuine donation (FROM OUR GOVERNMENT) with nothing expected in return and we are also fully aware that the Attorney General of Malaysia had thoroughly investigated the matter and found no wrongdoing so as far as we are concerned the matter is closed.”
As said however, the implication is the funds did originate from Saudi Arabia (the location, not the government), and the donor (whoever’s funds were sent) wasn’t expecting it or anything back. There is already much evidence that the Middle East is where a lot of 1MDB funds were laundered, so you can draw your own conclusions.
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Hi Jmd!!
Thank you for analysing this. I had for months trying to justify why Arab had admitted they gave donation to Najib. Apparently the minister said no such thing!
Thank you again Jmd! Merry christmas!
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